Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows names unnamed emotions

John Koenig published The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows in 2021, a book that coins terms for emotions previously lacking names. The project began in 2006 when Koenig, then a student at Macalester College in Minnesota, struggled to find words for his poetry. He created new concepts using etymologies from Latin, German, and Greek. The dictionary includes 15 emotions such as sonder (the feeling that every passerby has a life as complex as your own), opia (the discomfort of eye contact), and vemödalen (the frustration that your unique photo is just one of many). Koenig argues that language makes all emotions definable, even obscure ones.